How to transport Formula 1 race cars Bashny.Net

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As Formula 1 team carry
tons of equipment
the road to the track
In the calendar of Formula 1 20 stages scattered around the world. But before the 24 cars will take to the start, they need to bring on the road. And along with them a few dozen tons of equipment - trucks, planes, and ships. "Motor" studied the logistical routes Formula 1 teams and found that it is necessary to transport the "Big Circus».

Racing Formula 1 weekend begins on Friday. But not in that, when the pilots go to the gym. The first trucks with the equipment commands are sent to the track a week earlier. Most stables are based in the UK, so they get to race through France. "Under French law, the trucks can not drive through the country on Sunday, so most of the trucks must pass it until Saturday evening, - says the manager of the Caterham Graham Watson. - We try to send all trucks, but one Friday evening. "





Over the weekend, a week before the Grand Prix at the base Caterham in Hingeme is only one wagon. One in which then go to the track fighting vehicles Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen. "The reasons for this are several - explains Watson. - Firstly, because the mechanics and engineers have more time to work with the machine. Some new items are only available Monday morning, so we constantly try to delay the departure of the truck with the machine to the last. Plus, on Monday from their presence on the track in the long run there is no sense ».

Martial cars F-1 team is sent to the Grand Prix on Monday to the medium, two days before the first official practice, they were already on the road. On Wednesday, come to the race track and the riders themselves.



Team Tony Fernandez - one of the smallest in the Formula-1. Caterham have nine trucks. All of them romp through Europe during the summer season, when most of the Grand Prix are just on the continent. And here at the big teams and the economy more. In the garage Mercedes AMG, for example, are just 23 trucks.



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Half an hour into the parking lot

Each team has a place in the paddock for the motorhome and three trailers. Typically, this office trucks, in most cases referred to as RT (Race Truck). They are located directly in the paddock, boxes for each team. In fact, this is the main work area of ​​the collective.

Three "truck racing" team Caterham. Right RT1 - offices racing engineers and IT-staff. In the center of RT2 - working area engineers for hydraulics and electronics, are stored here, many parts and tools. Left RT3 - truck carrying combat vehicles. In addition, there are offices of employees of marketing and communications.



These trailers are located briefing room, offices, IT-staff, in some cases - Press Office, employees of marketing and private rooms of the pilots. Here are stored spare parts for cars. Usually between two trucks suspension structure is built - so teams get full second floor. Parking two of RT - is no easy task. In order to be able to build an entire floor between them, need filigree precision.

"The design is provided that the distance between two wagons must be exactly three meters - says the head of the racing team Marussia Simon Price. - If the distance between the front axle is 301 cm, and between the rear edge - 299, nothing happens. Our drivers are experienced, plus we use when parking special laser systems. The entire process takes an average of about one hour, but sometimes you have to tinker and longer. " Rumor has it that the anti-record time of parking trucks in the paddock Formula 1 is about five hours.

Two of the three RT Mercedes AMG connected auxiliary section. In the paddock there are only "trailers." "Head" is sent to the weekend in the parking lot not far from the road and come to the paddock again closer to midnight on Sunday - after being held last briefings engineers and the second floor will be dismantled.



The remaining trucks located in the course of the weekend, away from the race track paddock parking, or if they have no place, just walking distance from the road. Basically, these are the machines that are the first to arrive on the track before the start of the weekend. They carry garage panel and all the equipment necessary for setting up in the pits: plasma screens, computers, spare engines and gear boxes, barrels of fuel. When the track come race cars, to receive them everything is ready. Last truck parked in the paddock usual European Grand Prix on Wednesday morning. From this point on, you can forget about the move.
Truckers

"When the fans after the race at screens brew a cup of tea, we have an hour like going on a journey - said Graham Watson. - Before being given the checkered flag, we begin to collect and prepare to send the rear panel of the garage (those that are not seen in the broadcast), as well as spare parts that are no longer useful in the course of the race - for example, spare engines and transmissions. The employees are involved and not involved in the pit stops and truck drivers. "



Truckers, distilled equipment, are not employees of the teams. Most often, it is the drivers of large logistics companies. For example, in the summer of Mercedes AMG driver 23 attached company Eddie Stobart, one of the largest logistics companies in the UK.

Previously, teams of mechanics trucks distilled, but modern European laws do forbid it. "Now drivers can not get behind the wheel if they have not rested a number of hours - explains Watson. - Therefore, the mechanics that work on the track on Sunday morning, are no longer able to do it. However, since we were even more convenient. In the paddock the drivers helping to unload and assemble the equipment. This nine additional pairs of hands ».

People

The racing team of Formula 1 team - 57 people. That so many personnel are allowed to work with the machine in the course of the Grand Prix. In addition, the composition of the groups traveling to the World Cup stages, includes employees of press services, marketing departments, managers, employees keyterigovyh actual companies and drivers. Total of each team in the days of the stage should be about a hundred hotel rooms.

Some mechanics arrives at the track on Saturday, eight days before the race to help raise motorhome. By Tuesday, the entire group of mechanics to be on the track. The rest of the staff, including pilots, engineers and team leaders, come to the track on Wednesday.



An hour after the end of the race trucks stationed at remote parking lots, lining up in the pit lane. In the paddock there is still work. Engineers and pilots dismantled last race in one of the RT. Normally it takes a few hours, so the first loading the so-called «support trucks», support trucks. They are usually three or four commands each.

Part of the mechanics involved in the tires. All sets of rubber, and their more than a hundred for each team after the weekend should be handed over Pirelli. Rims each team uses their own, from their own suppliers. They also take up a lot of space in the truck.

The whole process of placing belongings race takes about six hours. Until midnight Caterham send trucks on the road and three support RT. All of them after each European Grand Prix (with the exception of racing coming one after the other) is sent to the team's base in Hingem. There will be about a week the engineers to analyze the data to establish trends in the machine and send it to the next Grand Prix.



Motorhoumy

The last three truck Caterham leave the paddock on Monday morning. These are the three so-called catering trailer. Two of them are the team motorhome, the third - the truck support for which there is no place in the paddock.

Caterham have one of the easiest "houses", which is going as follows: two lorries stand up next to the first floor and form a proper truck. There is a small meeting room, two rooms pilots, toilet and kitchen. On the roofs built on the second level. This guest area team which placed sofas, tables and chairs. Further staircase leads to the kitchen.

Motorhome continues to operate after the end of the race a few hours. Disassemble it begin on Monday morning. In parts of the motorhome Caterham leaves with an airport on Monday afternoon. One of the first among the other teams.

Energy Station from Red Bull motorhome even difficult to call. Only one guest area - an area of ​​over 300 square meters. Serve the visitors nine chefs and 12 bartenders and waitresses.



As fast as possible to collect "station" can be 18 hours of continuous operation.



Later on all the road leaves Red Bull. If motorhome Caterham can be disassembled in half a day and three trucks to transport, then the champion team a lot more trouble. To assemble the Energy Station, a huge three-story motorhome teams Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso, needed three days and the efforts of 32 people. Transported "station" 28 trucks.

About the same time you want to McLaren, motorhome which is made up of seven trucks. Assemble and disassemble it can be for three or four days.

McLaren Brand Centre. 18 meters long, 14 meters wide, three floors. Inside - two rooms pilots with private toilets and showers, office team leader, two meeting rooms, a medical room, five offices, a room for technical personnel, two additional restrooms. On the first floor - a kitchen and a guest area for 60 people. Just a motorhome 140 "seats". On three levels hung over 50 plasma screens. To assemble the Brand Centre, required 35 hours of continuous operation, to understand - 22 hours.



Motorhome almost never returned to the base during the European season - with the exception of a month's break in August. Teams surpass them only on the continent, and at remote stages of lease space directly on the slopes.

"Fly away from here»

«Fly away» - a term which in Formula 1 racing is called going outside Europe. To carry the equipment truck such steps, of course, impossible. Logistics of the Grand Prix complicated. Most of the equipment sent to the stables aircraft. The total load of each of the teams is about 30 tons.

Racetrack stables rent from owners runs guest houses located in the paddock. Equip such facilities every team on their own, even on overseas Grand Prix to bring their own tables, chairs, television stations and even kitchen appliances. But they, in turn, delivered to the race already on the ferry.

Each team has five to seven complete sets for guest houses. These kits are traveling around the world throughout the year. For example, Mercedes AMG his first set went to Australia at the end of January. In March, tables, chairs and other utensils take a ferry to Melbourne, where then were sent to Canada. The race was held in Montreal in June. After it the same set sailed to Japan - for the race, which will take place in early October. Then, at the next ferry to the same set again cross the Pacific Ocean - in the middle of November the United States Grand Prix, and in Austin tables, chairs and televisions will need again.

During the season, each kit overcomes some 100 thousand kilometers. Routes for each of the "sets" painted at the beginning of the year. Transporting one set on the plane would have been much more expensive, because at the end of the season the team will have just seven «fly away» for two months.



Twin race

The upcoming two weeks - the most intense period of the European season in Formula 1. Grand Prix of Germany and Hungary will break with only a week, so the teams have to retreat from the usual logistical routes.



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None of the trucks Caterham will not return to the UK before the end of the race in Budapest. With base in Hingeme all but one, left last Friday. After all, as always, I went on the road with cars RT3 Kovalainen and Petrov. Reliable weekend, however, does not differ from the usual. The only exception is that your motor home team will gather at an accelerated rate, to a dinner on Monday after the race at Hockenheim, he has traveled to Budapest. Hungary will send a team truck already in Lievelde - the team moved to a new technical center.

Many big teams, motorhoumy are too cumbersome, bring them only one Grand Prix two. For example, the Red Bull is another "house on wheels" - floor. It was he who went to Hungary until the Energy Station will be parked at the Hockenheimring.

After the race in Hungary in the F1 calendar is scheduled five-week break. Trucks teams pulled back to the base, after which staff will be dissolved on vacation. Then the caravan of Formula 1 will return to the usual schedule. In late August, the team will once again load their trucks, so they went one after the other on a new journey - this time in Belgium.

Motorhome Ferrari

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